Pipf-drawing tool



A. M. HEWLETT.

PIPE DRAWING TOOL.

Patented Apr. 16, 1895.1

ATFNT Fries.

Piss-DRAWING TOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 537,455, dated April 16, 1895.

Application filed April 24, 1894- Serial No. 508,890. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED M. HEWLETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kewanee, Henry county, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe- Drawing Tools, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is a top View of one of the members. Fig. 3 is an under side view of theother member. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one end of the skelp. Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section showing the shape of the jaws.

My invention relates to the manufacture of butt weld pipe, and has particularly to do with tools employed for drawing the pipe through the bell.

In the manufacture of butt weld pipe heretofore it has been customary to weld a rod, commonly called a tag, to the forward end of the strip or skelp, after which the skelp was placed in the furnace and heated to a welding heat. Abell was then slipped upon the tag and the strip drawn from the furnace by suitable mechanism to which the tag was connected. The bell being caught by a bellholder, the strip was then drawn through the bell and formed into pipe. As the work of welding the tag to the skelp consumes considerable time and necessitates the use of expensive apparatus, many attempts have been made to providea tag which could be quickly attached to the skelp and which would also be of such shape as to permit of its passage through the bell. Furthermore, as it is desirable that the tag should be capable of repeated use, it should be attached to the skelp after the latter has been heated, as when the tag is attached to the skelp before heating, the great heat to which thelatteris subjected rapidly destroys the tag and unfits it for further use. The great difficulty in the way of the production of a practicable tag resides in the fact that in order to be a success the tag must be capable of being attached quickly to the skelp, but must also be so constructed that the bell may be slipped upon it after it has been attached to the skelp, and t0 the best of my knowledge no tag of such construction has heretofore been produced.

My present invention has for its object to overcome the objections incident to the use of the tags heretofore devised, by producing a tag so constructed that it can be attached to the skelp after the skelp has been heated, and which will be capable of being passed through a bell. I accomplish this object as hereinafter specified and as illustrated in the drawings.

That which I regard as new will be set forth in the claims.

In the drawings-6 indicates a tag, which consists of two members 78 pivoted together by a pivot 9, forming upper and lower jaws 10-11 and handles 1213. The handles 12 13 may be from three to six feet long, and are provided at their ends with a collar or knob by means of which they may be connected to a suitable drawing device.

As shown in Fig. 5, the upper jaw 10 is broad, its inner face beingconcave and being provided with a tooth let. The inner face of the tooth 14. is arranged perpendicularly to the surface of the jaw, its outer face being inclined, as shown in Fig. 1. The lower jaw 11 is substantially circular in cross section, and it is provided with a recess 15 adapted to receive the tooth 14. when the jaws approach each other. The degree of curvature of the lower jaw 11 is more than that of the inner face of the upper jaw 10, as shown in Fig. 5, the object of which construction is to permit the skelp 16 to assume the proper shape when it is gripped between the jaws 101l.

By making the lower jaw 11 of a greater degree of curvature than the upper jaw, that portion of the skelp at each side of the lower jaw is permitted to fold in, giving the end of the skelp somewhat the shape shown in Fig. 4, and conducing to the ready formation of the skelp into pipe when it is drawn through the bell. When the jaws 10-11 are forced together by operating the handles 12-13, the tooth 14 punches a hole in the skelp, so that the skelp may be firmly held by the tag.

1718 indicate lugs carried by the upper and lower jaws respectively near the ends of said jaws. The lugs 17-18 serve as stops to control the extent to which the jaws may overlap theskelp.

19 indicates an inwardly projecting lug carwhen the two members are associated to form;

the tag the tag will be practically circular in cross section, its parts lying in substantially the sameline; rand the-diameter of the tag so.

formed is slightly less than that of the bell through which it is to pass; so that 'after'the tag is secured to the skelp a bell maybe slipped upon 'it'and'thetag drawn through the'bell.

In-the use of "my improved tag, when the operator observes that the skelp has arrived at the proper temperature-he introduces the tag into the furnace -and separates-the Ijaws 1011suffi'ciently topermitthe end of the skelp to be =introduced between 'them. By then bringing the handles together the tooth 14 is forcedinto theskelp. One ormo'rebells are then slipped upon the tag and a suitable hook is connected to the ends ofthe handles. Bymeans of'the'hook the tag is then connected to a suitable drawing device and the tag and skelp pulled through the bell or bells, which are intercepted by a suit-able holder. As soon as-the pipe is formed the hook is -removed, and by separating the handles the skelp is released.

Instead of using a hook-to connect'the tag to the drawinglmechanism, the usual buggy orany other suitable device maybe-used.

The projection'maybe put on the lower jaw 11, and the recess to correspond in the upper jaw 10. I do not, therefore, restrict myself to the exact details -show'n.

As indicated in Fig. 1, the internal diameter of the bell is greater than the diameter of the head of the tag only sufficiently to permit the tag to pass freely through the bell when the jaws are closed. It therefore the handles should not be stiff enough to close the jaws tightly upon the skelp, and should bend when brought together, as is often the case in actual practice, yet when the tag is drawn through the bellthe jaws will be forced together by the bell, thereby tightening the grip uponthe skelp.

It should be understood that the word skel p is herein used to apply-to the strip of metal whi'ch'is to be drawn throughthe bell regardless'ot' Whether or not such strip has been previouslytreatedto make it adapt itself more readily to tubular form.

That which'I claim as my invention, and desire tosecure by LettersPatent, is-

1. A pipe-drawing tool having: j a'ws,'a'p'oin t ed tooth, and means for operating said tool 'Wh'erebythe pointed tooth is'caused to penetrate the skel p, substantially as described.

2. -?A pipe-drawing tool having j-aws, handles for operating said jaws, said-handles being adapted to lie in substantially the same line when; the jaws are closed, whereby the tool may be drawn through a bell, and 'azproje'ction adapted to perforate the skel p and enable the tool to be applied while the skelp is in the furnace, substantially as described.

ALFRED M. HEWLETT.

Witnesses:

J OHN'L. JACKSON, RALPH VAN DYKE. 

